


All That Matters

by ShyFicWriter



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Disobeying Orders, Drama, Family Drama, Family Feels, Father-Daughter Relationship, Feels, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Gen, Homesickness, Missions Gone Wrong, Parent Yondu Udonta, Protective Yondu Udonta, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Slavery, Tickle Fights, freed from slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 14:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16996902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyFicWriter/pseuds/ShyFicWriter
Summary: Reader takes on a solo mission against Yondu’s orders to try and prove herself to him. Yondu isn’t happy about that.





	All That Matters

**Author's Note:**

> After what seems like an eternity, I’ve finally finished writing this for my friend @giulscomix based off the prompt she sent me. (I hope you like it! <3)  
> Also, this is my longest one-shot ever lol  
> I may change title later if I come up with a better one.

You’re leaning against one of the windows on the front deck of the Eclector looking out at the stars, just as you used to do as a little girl back on Earth. You idly wonder if any of these stars could be the same stars you used to watch with your mother and father on camping trips in the summer. 

Thinking of this makes you cringe as you begin to remember the last camping trip you’d ever take with your family. 

***

“ _Daaad!_ ” you laugh, pushing your father away as he gave you a noogie. You had made fun of one of his dad-jokes related to the smores you and your parents had just finished and he was retaliating in his classic fatherly way, picking on you.

“All right, you two,” your mother laughed. “I think it’s time for bed.”

“Aww! Tell us one more campfire story, mom? Please??” you begged, giving her your best puppy-dog eyes.

“Oh, all right, I suppose.” your mother laughed again. “But just one.”

“Yes!” you cheered, hugging her and telling her ‘thank you.’

“Which one do you want to hear, sweetie?” 

“Can you tell the one about the yellow ribbon again?” you ask, it was your favorite story, and what better way to end a happy night of camping than with your favorite story?   
You cuddled up to your father and look to the stars as your mother began, spinning the tale of a young couple as they fall in love. In this story, the young woman always wears a yellow ribbon around her neck, and when her lover asks why, she always evades answering the question. She continues avoiding the question long after they are married and have children.

You could feel yourself nodding off when your mother got to the part where the now-old woman falls ill and, while on her deathbed, finally tells her lover he can untie the ribbon. You struggled to keep your eyes open to hear the ending again, but soon find yourself having fallen asleep. 

You weren’t sure how you got in the tent, but you assumed your father had carried you in after you fell asleep. However, that was less concerning than what had woken you. You had awoken to the sound of objects clattering around and your mother crying out for your father. You quickly jumped up and hurried out of the tent flaps only to be blinded by the bright lights outside.

You heard your mother screaming at you to run as your eyes adjusted to the blinding light. The first thing you saw when the spots cleared was your father on the ground. Your young mind wondered how your father could be sleeping in this chaos and you looked in the direction of your mother’s cries only to find her desperately trying to pull herself from the arms of a strange man with ratty, blood red hair and weird robot-looking eye. “Mommy?!” you cry, “Mommy, what’s happening?”

Your mother only screamed “NO!” in response, but you quickly learned it wasn’t for you as you felt yourself be roughly picked up from behind by strange, almost scaly-feeling, hands. 

“MOMMY!” you cried in fright, not understanding what was happening as you looked pleadingly into the frightened, tearful eyes of your mother as she screamed for the strange men to please, just let her baby go. “Daddy! Wake up! I’m scared!” you pleaded through tears to the unresponsive form of your father. The man holding you laughed wickedly in response as you felt him start walking in the direction of the bright light. 

You struggled more, screaming and crying for your mother and father. In your struggles you finally were able to turn and face your mother only to see what your young mind comprehended as the other man grabbing her head funny, and making her fall to the ground near your father. You screamed for your mother again, only to then be picked up and flung over the shoulder of your captor as he continued in the direction of the bright light.

That was the last time you ever saw your parents.

You had always hoped they’d come looking for you, but that hope would be quickly destroyed one day a few months later. You were enslaved on a planet called Skrull, when you see one of your captors repeat the “strange head grab” to a fellow slave who had become too sick to work. It was that moment, when you had been instructed to dispose of his body, that you realize exactly what the man with the flaming hair did to your mother and likely your father before her.

Your parents had died that night, and you finally understood that they would never come save you from the hell you now endured.

***

You sigh heavily at the memory and turn to press your back onto the window, taking your gaze away from the stars. 

“Hey! You ready?” you hear Peter call from the entranceway across the room. “It’s time to go.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” you say, grabbing your bag from the floor and following Peter down the corridors to the Docking Bay to board the M-ship Yondu was already on. You board the ship silently and strap in, Peter close behind you. You knew the flight to Berhert was going to be at least an hour so you allowed yourself to be lost in your memories once again, trying to remember the happy times you did get to share with your father.

***

Upon reaching Berhert Yondu laid out the plan once again. The person who hired you was an Xandarian scientist and had requested three tasks be completed. She needed a vyloo, some acernis tree sap, and about 50 grets worth of chalcanthite rock.  
The sap would be the easier find, as the planet had many acernis trees near its water sources, but the chalcanthite would be trickier. It was a delicate and beautiful blue mineral, but also deadly to most species. Just a tiny bit dissolved in water could kill an adult. Yondu instructed Peter to get the sap, and that Kraglin and himself would go after the chalcanthite. After those two tasks were completed they’d nab a vyloo on the way out.

“Wait, what am I doing?” you asked, realizing he had not assigned you a task.

“Yer gonna stay with the ship.” Yondu instructed, handing some bags to Kraglin and searching for some gloves.

“What? No! I can help! Why don’t you at least have me go grab the vyloo?”

“No, you’re going to do as I say and stay with the ship.” He found the gloves and handed a pair to Kraglin. Peter, not really wanting to get into this, stated he was going to go grab his supplies to he could get started.

“But-”

“That’s final.” he said sternly, looking you in the eyes.

“Why even bother bringing me along if you knew you were just going to leave me with the ship?” you asked angrily.

“To keep ya outta trouble.” he said matter-of-factly, turning to grab a bag from Kraglin before heading out the door as Peter came back with his supplies.

“You’re impossible!” you seethed, clenching your fists in frustration.

Yondu sighed. Turning back to you he said, “Just do as I say, little girl, and stay on the damn ship.” and then walked out the door with Kraglin close behind.

Peter turned to you before he left and tried to ensure you that it wasn’t that bad but you wouldn’t hear any of it and told him to just leave you alone. Rather than press it and risk getting punched, he left to go find an acernis tree or two so he could collect the sap and left you alone on the ship to seethe.

After about half an hour of sitting and angrily staring at the wall wondering why Yondu didn’t trust you to help on missions you got an idea. Why should you just sit here in boredom? Why not just go out there and prove that you can help? You sat up, grabbed the net and went to the door to leave the ship to find that damn vyloo. 

You made it about 10 feet outside the ship when you heard a voice shout “An’ just  _what_  do ya think yer doin’?” which succeeded in making you jump out of your skin. You turn around, hiding the net behind your back. 

“Nothing.” you say, wide eyed as you stare into the faces of a rather cross Ravager captain and his first mate. You really hadn’t expected them back so soon.

“Looks to me like ya were disobeyin’ orders, girl.” 

“No… I’m still with the ship… technically…” you tried. “I’m just walking around it.”

“Don’t ya lie to me, ya lil’ brat!” the Centaurain scolded. “Get yer Terran ass back on the ship.”

“Make me.” you spat out in defiance, angry at how he insisted on treating you like a child. You turned your back to the pair and started to storm off.

In a moment of rage at your insolence Yondu called for his arrow and in an instant you found yourself with a yaka arrow pointed at your face, stopping you in your tracks. 

“Get. In. The.  _Ship_.” Yondu growled. 

Knowing there was no way out you angrily turned around and stomped back into the ship with an irritated growl. “You’re impossible!” you yell once back on the ship, throwing the net to the ground and taking your seat in the cockpit. 

Yondu, in a calm anger turned to Kraglin and instructed him to go capture a vyloo while he took a moment to 'correct this one’s behavior.’   
Without much more than a “Yes, Cap,” Kraglin took the net from the floor and exited the ship, leaving the two of you alone.

***

Forty-five minutes later Peter returned with a jar full of sap to find you and Yondu still fuming at each other and a quiet Kraglin who just shook his head at Peter when he went to speak, indicating that he shouldn’t ask and that they should just prepare to leave.

***

When you all arrived back on the Eclector after a very quiet return trip you immediately got off the ship and headed toward your quarters. 

“Make sure yer up early tomorrow!” Yondu called after you. “Yer expected to have all the toilets scrubbed in quadrant A and B before we leave tomorrow to get this stuff to that scientist lady on Xandar.”

You sighed and flipped him the bird on your way out of the Docking Bay, prompting him to shoot back with “Keep it up and I’ll have ya cleanin’ out the grease traps in kitchen too!”

***

The next day after you had begrudgingly scrubbed all the toilets you were assigned and showered to get the smell off of you, you started to head back to your quarters. You were thinking you’d just stay on the Eclector rather than leaving when Kraglin came to fetch you for Yondu.

“Cap says it’s time to go.”

“Maybe I don’t want to go.” you sass back, still lying on top of your bunk. 

“Come on,” he pressed. “Cap says he’s not leaving leaving ya here. Trust me, you don’t want him to come get ya himself.”

You rolled your eyes and sat up. “Fine.” you said, standing up from your bunk and following the Xandarian out of your room and to the M-ship where Yondu was waiting. Upon arrival you noticed Kraglin start to walk away. “Wait, aren’t you coming?” you asked, finding it strange that he wouldn’t be coming as he was nearly always with Yondu.

“Nope. Cap’s got me leaving to check out a job on Krylor in an hour.” he said, continuing to make his way out of the Docking Bay.

“Where’s Peter?” you asked next, noticing he wasn’t on the ship when you boarded.

“Sent him on a supply run this morning.” Yondu replied, preparing to take off while you strapped in. “Besides, it’s not like I can’t drop this stuff off myself.”

“Wait? You don’t need me along either?” you asked incredulously, “Then why was it so damn important that I finished my extra chores early to be here?”

“To keep ya outta trouble.” he responded, much to your frustration. That seemed to always be his answer and you hated it every time. You would have retorted but you opted instead to just sigh angrily and give him the silent treatment.

This continued for the duration of the flight, the landing, the walk to the observatory, and well up until you were both let inside the building by security and led to the scientist’s office. The first time you opened your mouth again was to give a returned greeting to the scientist as she bid you both hello upon letting you into her office. She was an older woman, possibly in her early sixties. Her black hair was tied back in a tight bun upon where she had rested a pair of goggles. You notice her badge read “Dr. Mahlo.”

You generally ignored the fake pleasantries Yondu exchanged with the woman as he turned over the items she had hired him to acquire and she responded by saying the units she owed him were being transferred as they spoke. You barely paid attention to their following conversation, thinking instead of perhaps setting Yondu’s dash figures in gelatin in revenge for him treating you like a child, that is until you heard the scientist say something about having another job for Yondu, if he was interested, of course. 

She was interested in acquiring a rock of petram to study, but it was only available on Honua; a planet easy enough to get to, but uninhabitable to most species as there was no water source, and therefore no viable food source native to the planet. Despite this, and a source of curiosity to the scientific community, there was breathable oxygen. Dr. Mahlo suspected the oxygen could potentially be coming from the petram rock itself, though other scientists laughed her theory off as nonsense. If she were able to obtain a sample she hoped she’d could study it and test her hypothesis.

Yondu accepted the job offer and told you it was time to go after receiving a grainy photo of the rock he was going after. Once you both were out of earshot of the building he admitted that it sounded like a fairly easy job for the money she was offering.

“Hey, Yondu?” you started.

“Oh! Now ya speak!” he laughed. “Ya finally done being mad at me, girly?”

“Can I go get the rock? You said it was an easy job and I know I can do it if you would just-”

“No. I’m sending Brahl.”

“Why not? You said it was one of the easiest jobs you’ve been offered in a year! I can do it!”

“I said no.” He gave you a curt look as he motioned you to get back on the ship. 

You continued to argue as you boarded the ship and kept arguing on the way back to the Eclector, but Yondu stood his ground. He said he didn’t care how much you argued with him, you weren’t ready and you weren’t going, and that was final, adding that if you kept this up he had no problem making you clean out the grease traps tonight. 

You sat back in frustrated silence.  _‘Screw this!’_  you thought,  _‘I don’t need his permission. I’ll do it myself.’_

***

Later that night you snuck through the halls of the Eclector to the Docking bay. You knew that Yondu as well as much of the crew were sleeping, but you also knew that there were shifts assigned for other crew members to remain awake to watch the ship while the others slept and you didn’t want to run into anyone who might be able to say they saw you awake at this hour when Yondu inevitably found you weren’t on the ship any longer and the photo of the rock was gone from his table.

You peered around the Docking Bay entrance to see who was on watch. It appeared to be Gef, who happened to be asleep on the job. Not ideal for the ship, but lucky for you. Luckier still, the hangar doors were open. Either Gef fell asleep on the controls or he had been awaiting the return of another Ravager. Either way didn’t matter to you as you quickly but quietly slipped past him to board an M-ship closest to the doors with your supplies. 

Once on board you took a deep breath and peered out the window to make sure Gef hadn’t woken up. He hadn’t, but you knew you better take off quickly as he definitely would wake upon hearing the firing of the engine, and you couldn’t risk him closing the hangar doors on you.

With another breath you quickly plotted a course for Honua and fired the engines up. Just as you thought the noise startled Gef awake, but you were out of the hangar doors before he could fully wake up and react to close them.

Safely outside the Eclector and quickly putting distance between it and your commandeered M-ship, you let out a sigh. You were really doing this.

***

“What do ya mean she just flew out of here!” Yondu shouted, seething hatred in his eyes as he glared at his imbecile of a crew member. Not only was Yondu particularly grumpy whenever he was woken early, but he was extra cranky to have been woken up to the news that you had up and left in one of his M-ships against his orders that you were not to leave the ship unattended.

Gef stuttered, trying to explain but Yondu cut him off, shouting that the only way you could have even gotten out of the hangar was either with his help, or if he was away from his post. Gef tried to make an excuse about how he had been awake for a very long time and that it was possible that he had dosed off but that only made Yondu explode in rage.

“Ya were asleep at yer post!?” he yelled, furious at Gef’s incompetence. “I ought to force ya out an airlock! And just how long had it been since she left before yer cowardly ass finally decided to say something!”

The frightened Ravager attempted to answer before being cut off again.

“Don’t answer that! Not another word out of ya!” Yondu turned to Kraglin and the other two crew members with him, all three with slightly nervous expressions due to being faced with their cranky captain.

“Krag, go fetch me Peter. Tell him we’re leavin’ now to find that damn girl.”   
As Kraglin hurried off to do as he was ordered Yondu faced the others, “And ya two throw this lazy piece of shit in the brig until he learns to quit sleepin’ on the damn job!” He punctuated his sentence with a punch in Gef’s stomach before the other two Ravagers carried out their captain’s orders and led Gef to the brig. 

Yondu pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He didn’t need to notice the photo was gone to know exactly where you were going. He mentally cursed you and wondered why you needed to be so damn stubborn.

***

After a couple hours Honua came into sight. You felt butterflies in your stomach as you went over the seemingly simple plan in your head. Get in, find a rock of petram, and head back to the Eclector to show Yondu that you were able to do it.

You weren’t an inexperienced flyer, but you weren’t necessarily an expert pilot either, yet you still noticed that the break through the atmosphere was a bit rougher than most. You were able to regain control of your ship, but only just, and landed relatively safely in a large clear area of land a little ways off from some rock formations. Shaking off your jitters from your landing you gathered your supplies and set off towards the large rock formations to see if you could find a sample of petram from there.

Upon reaching the formations you realized that the rocks almost appeared to be a forest of boulders of all different shapes and sizes, nearly all of them looking to be the type of rock in the photo that the scientist needed; greyish-brown, but with thin slivers of brilliant purple running through them.   
You took a moment to admire their unique appearance as you hurried and found a sample of petram small enough to put in your pack and carry back to the ship. After making sure the rock was secure in your pack you looked up and noticed the sunlight glint off of something in the distance. You knew you should really just head back to your ship, but decided there was no harm in getting closer to quickly investigate what you saw. After all, it was probably nothing and a quick look wouldn’t put you too far behind.

Your mind changed when you got closer, however, as it appeared to a wrecked M-ship, and it didn’t appear to have been there for too long as you noticed there was blood soaking the ground that could have only been there a few days, no more than a week. You got closer, trying to see if the blood trailed off anywhere, as you didn’t see a body. Maybe whoever it was could still be alive. It was a slim chance, but if they were you could bring them back on your ship and try to get them treatment.

Strangely enough you didn’t find any trail, which worried you. Something would have had to have happened to the body. But there wasn’t supposed to be any life on this planet? There was no water, no food source. Nothing should have been able to survive here, nothing could survive on oxygen alone… But what if they were wrong? What if something did live here? What if that was the reason there was a blood soaked patch on the ground with no body and no trail indicating a person had walked away? 

Your thoughts were interrupted by a raspy groan to your left, making you start and turn towards the noise. 

“Please…” The voice croaked. You could see two figures coming around a larger rock. One of the figures, the one belonging to the voice, was a thin Krylorian man, and the other appeared to be Kree with short black hair. Neither appeared to be in good shape.

“Please,” The Krylorian said again, coming closer to your unease. “D-do you have w-water?”

“Oh!” you say in surprise. Of course! They must be dying of dehydration by now, depending how long they had been stranded here! You felt guilty for wanting to run and quickly pulled your canteen off your belt and tossed it to the men, who tore it open desperately and nearly fought over its contents. 

You looked them over as they drained the container dry. You could see that they had some blood on the fronts of them, mostly down the fronts of their shirts and on their knees, but other than some scrapes and minor cuts, neither of them seemed to have any life threatening injuries. Not to mention that if either of them had lost that much blood, they certainly wouldn’t be standing now. Perhaps there had been a third member of their party who they couldn’t save?

“Um… are you alright? Are there any others? Do you have any injured?” you ask, “I can help you get any injured members back to my ship.”

The two men jerked their heads up towards you. “A ship?” the Kree started. “She has an intact ship!” he said to the other man, who was giving you a look you didn’t quite like.

“Miss,” The Krylorian began, “you wouldn’t happen to have any food on your ship, would you? We-we are starving… and so weak…”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any food.” you apologized. It was true. You ate before you left and didn’t bother to pack any more food as you didn’t see yourself being gone longer than half a day. This was something you would have been scolded on for sure, as Yondu taught you to  _always_  pack food, no matter how easy the mission, just in case. But in your defense you were trying to pack light and sneak out as fast as possible.

“Oh…” The pink man said, looking disappointed. “It’s no matter then.” he exchanged an eerie look to his partner that made you very uncomfortable. “Could you at least help me walk my crew mate to your ship? He’s very weak.”

“Uh, sure.” you say hesitantly as you moved forward to help the two men. As you got close enough to be able to help support the other man, however, you froze. Behind them, and previously out of your line of sight before, you could see bones poking out from behind the rock where they had previously stood. Humanoid bones.

Noticing your change in expression the Krylorian man turned to follow your gaze.

“Oh, would you look at that, Ged. The young lady’s found our mate Steiv!” He let out a raspy laugh, earning a similar reaction from his partner.

You felt the blue man, Ged’s grip tighten around your arm and you could feel your heart racing. 

“Oh! Don’t be like that, miss.” he said, a look of insanity painting his features. “We had to. Would’ve died of thirst if not.”

“And well,” began his partner. “It would’ve been a pity to just let the rest of him go to waste, now wouldn’t it? Now, he wasn’t too excited about the idea, but soon he’ll have you to keep him company. I’m sure old Steiv would like that.” 

You struggled against the blue man as you saw the Krylorian pull a knife out of his pocket. Your breathing quickened as the implications of his words formed in your mind.   
After their ship crashed and they had been stranded several days they must not have been able to take the thirst anymore. They must have decided to obtain liquid by the most unsavory of means, cutting the throat and drinking the blood of their other crew mate. It was also clear that they decided to stave off their starvation a while longer by cannibalizing his body rather than waste the meat afterwards.

You could feel your stomach churning and you struggled more forcefully to get out of the Kree’s grip, only to be forced to the ground as the Krylorian man stepped closer. “Nonono!” you cried out, still struggling. You didn’t want to go this way. You didn’t want to be eaten by a couple of marooned men driven insane by their own thirst. The blade inched closer to your throat and you could feel hot tears prick at your eyes as you realized that the men weren’t nearly as weak as they had let on. You also realized this had probably been their plan all along. No doubt they might have seen you land and decided they could try to make of meal of whoever got off the ship to build up their strength before stealing said ship to escape.

The men began laughing at your struggle and you closed your eyes tightly, preparing for the end and wishing that you hadn’t investigated. No. Wishing that you had never left the ship. Of all times for Yondu to be right.

Suddenly you heard a sharp whistle and two sickening  _schlick-_ ing noises, promptly accompanied by two dull thuds as the bodies of your captors fell to the ground.

Your eyes opened and you quickly shoved the body of the Kree man who had fallen half of top of you off and backed away from the bodies. You looked up to meet the gaze of a concerned and stunned Peter as well as the frightening face of an absolutely furious Yondu. 

You froze and your breath caught in your throat as he stepped forward, grabbing your arm and jerking you upwards. Remembering why you came in the first place you quickly used your free arm to snap open your pack and present the petram sample to your captain, hoping it might quell his anger even a fraction. 

He paused for a moment before ripping it away from you and shoving it at Peter, who grabbed it in wide-eyed surprise. 

“Quill, take the ship she came in and deliver that to Dr. Mahlo. I’m taking her back to the Eclector where I can deal with her there.”

Peter, in an attempt to save you tried to suggest that maybe Yondu would prefer to take the rock himself and that he could take you back to the Eclector instead, only to be cut off with an angry glare and Yondu stating through gritted teeth for him to do as he was told. Peter shot you a worried look but relented and did as he was ordered.

You declined to meet the Ravager captain’s gaze as he began to pull you by the arm out of forest of rock back towards his ship behind Peter.

The trip back to the Eclector was silent. You knew better than to speak and you kept your gaze in your lap to avoid seeing the seething anger in his eyes as he piloted the ship.

Upon docking you hoped to be quick and exit the ship before your captain to head to your quarters but had no such luck. He got out of the ship before you and waited for you to come out behind him. You warily stepped out of the ship and the moment you were on the catwalk Yondu grabbed you by the arm again and led you out of the Docking Bay to your quarters. The entire way you noticed Ravagers giving you knowing looks as they noticed their angry captain dragging you along. They knew you were in for it.

When you finally reached your quarters he practically threw you inside and then slammed the door behind him as he followed you in.

“What the  _hell_  do ya think ya were doin’!” he yelled. Not waiting for an answer he continued. “I gave ya direct orders not to leave the ship! Orders which ya deliberately disobeyed!” 

“I don’t understand the problem! I got the rock!” you argued.

“Ya nearly died!” he seethed, his fists clenched.

“What do you even care?!” you shot back in anger, glaring into the face of the Centaurian. 

Looks of exasperation and fury painted the Ravager Captain’s face. “Dammit, girl! Don’t ya understand I care about ya like my own child!”

You felt your heart tug a bit at his words but in your anger you couldn’t stop the words you spat out next.

“Well I’m not your child! I’m not your daughter-you’re not my father! Stop trying to be!”

Yondu froze at your words, his heart breaking in that instant, though he’d never let you know. Keeping his face stony, he merely uttered the word “Fine.” and turned to walk out of your quarters.   
Tears pricked at your eyes as you watched him leave and you buried your face in your pillow the second your door closed again.

***

Three weeks later Peter comes into your quarters.

“Hey, I wanna talk to you about something.” he said, not bothering to knock and sitting next to you on the bed, to your slight annoyance.

“Ugh. What?”

“Look, it’s no secret that you and Yondu haven’t been talking, but it’s got to stop.”

“Why?” you retort, turning away from him. 

“Because it’s stupid. You live in the same ship, you can’t just never talk again.”

“It’s a big ship.” you sass back. “I think I can do it.”

“Look, I know he can be overbearing, but he does care about you. Why else do you think he always makes sure one of us is with you if you’re on the ship?”

“What are you talking about?” you turned back to him in annoyance. You’d been alone on the ship countless times. Yeah, sometimes Yondu would bring you on missions where you weren’t needed so you’d 'stay out of trouble’ but you had always assumed he was just being a dick and thought you’d pull pranks if left unattended. 

“Have you really not noticed?” Peter asked incredulously. “You’ve really never noticed that if Yondu and Kraglin are both leaving the ship he either takes you with him, or sends you with me on another job?”

You blinked. You hadn’t really given that much thought before.

“But-”

“You never noticed that when I got older I was allowed to be on the ship without them, but you weren’t allowed the same?”

“I-”

“He’ll never say it, but I can tell he’s protective of you. You’re the only girl on the ship. He’s seen the way some of the crew look at you.”

“But, everyone knows…  _that…_  is against Ravager code.” you said, knowing exactly what he was implying Yondu thought some of the crew might attempt to do to you.

“Yeah, but he’d never give one of the crew the chance to try. He’s been protecting you.”

You thought back. It was true. If you were on the ship, either Yondu or Kraglin were also on board, maybe not with you every moment, but most definitely on the ship.   
You remembered how in your teens Yondu always kept you and Peter close by if you weren’t doing chores and how once you both reached your twenties Peter was granted more time on his own on the ship but Yondu kept making up excuses to keep you either near him, Kraglin, or Peter most of the time. Even now, while you aren’t even speaking to each other, you couldn’t deny that you still hadn’t been left alone on the ship without at least one of the other three on board.  
That’s how it had been since the day he and Peter found you on Krylor. 

***  
Your master had brought you to do the lifting on a supply run, but left you in an alley behind a bar while he got drunk inside. Peter saw the exchange, you being tossed aside by the green, black haired man, and told not to go anywhere as your master sauntered into the building. He didn’t know at the time you were the man’s slave, but he sure as hell knew no young girl in her mid-teens should have to be treated that way. He approached you when he thought Yondu wasn’t looking and asked you if you were alright. 

You started to nod ‘yes,’ but shrank back a bit when Yondu came up behind Peter.

“What’cha doin’ boy? I told ya not to run off!”

Peter explained to the blue man what he witnessed and as he was suggesting he go in and beat up the asshole Yondu looked you up and down, first noticing your malnourished frame, then your hands calloused from hard labor, the bruises barely hidden under your clothing, and finally the collar around your throat. 

Now, slavery was highly illegal throughout most of the galaxy, but that didn’t stop some unsavory parts, like the Skrull empire, from partaking in this horrible practice. That being said, most people in the galaxy wouldn’t necessarily know a slave if they saw them, and slaves were obviously forbidden to declare themselves as such by their masters. However, few, such as Yondu, might recognize a slave collar when they saw one.   
It most served mostly as a brand. A way to humiliate the slave and mark them as belonging to their masters, such as a collar on a dog. 

Yondu’s eyes went dark the moment he saw the collar. As a Kree battle slave in his youth, he never had a collar such as this, as the one you wore was worn almost exclusively by slaves taken by the Skrulls. However, sometimes Skrulls would do trade deals with the Kree, and Yondu had seen one or two of these collars before. Not letting on that he knew what he was looking at, he asked you if your “friend” would be back soon. 

Not knowing what to do, you said nothing, just staring through the dim lighting of the alley at the Centaurian and this boy about your age, perhaps a few years older than you. You hear a door crash open and hear your master come staggering out and slurring something about “Damn last call!”

Yondu notices your sharp intake of breath as the man staggers closer, berating you for interacting with strangers. He drunkenly raised his hand to strike you.

A hot anger rose in Yondu, partially fueled by memories from his youth. He didn’t speak to the man, didn’t yell at him to back off, didn’t clock him in the face, much as Peter was wishing to do at that moment.   
He simply pulled back his coat, exposed his arrow, and whistled.

Your master fell to the ground, dead as a doornail, a wound straight through his skull, a tiny line of smoke escaping the small hole the arrow left above his pointy green ear.

You stared at your fallen master for a moment before looking up to the blue man and the boy, unsure if you should try to run. You could see that Peter wore a look of shock, clearly not expecting to witness what had so suddenly occurred. Yondu approached you and you could only stand there in frightened silence as you watched him reach into his pocket.

“Hold still, little girl.” he instructed, and you stiffened as you obeyed, not knowing what else to do. He raised an object up and held it to the back of your neck. You startled as you felt a click, which you would soon find out was the release of your collar. You looked up at him in surprise and disbelief as he held the collar in his hands, forcibly prying it off the object. The object turned out to be an Aimant Magnet, and you wondered to yourself how he would have known a powerful magnet would be needed to release the mechanism of your collar. 

You asked no questions as you watched him toss your collar to the ground next to your now former master’s shoulder, merely looking up at him as if to ask  _‘What do I do now?’_  

Yondu returned your gaze. “Ya don’t need to worry about him anymore. Yer free now. Yer welcome to come with us back to my ship, or run off. Either way make it quick. It don’t look good to be standing next to a dead body.”

Your eyes began to well up and you quickly stepped over the fallen body of your master to embrace the blue man in a tight hug.

Yondu lightly chuckled as you released him and looked up into his eyes. “Should I take that to mean yer coming with us?”

You nodded your head quickly.

“Alrighty then, let’s get outta here before somebody finds us with that body.” he instructed, ushering you out of the alley so you could all hopefully make it back to the ship without further casualties. 

***  
Remembering this caused you to remember all the happy memories you had with Yondu.   
Your first flying lessons; being taught to fire a blaster; the rare times when he’d secretly surprise you and Peter with a treat after pretending that he was calling you both into his quarters to scold you.   
All the times he’d tease and pick on you when the crew wasn’t around and all the times he’d catch you planning pranks with Peter and he’d pretend like he  _definitely_  wasn’t secretly giving you tips on how to execute the pranks on his crew better under the guise of a scolding, saying things like  _‘How many times I gots to tell ya two to quit rigging slop buckets above the doors of my crew?’_  only to then add with a wink as he walked away,  _‘Besides, ev’rbody knows if ya leave the door too wide they get suspicious…’_

Remembering all this, you knew you didn’t want to throw all those memories away. You knew you didn’t want to throw the relationship between you and Yondu away. Yondu may not be your father, as you lost him long ago and there was no replacement. However, somewhere along the line, Yondu had become a father-figure to you, and Peter like your brother.

You sat and looked at Peter, realizing now what you had to do. 

Peter caught your gaze and gave you a pat on the shoulder, having seen he had finally gotten through to you, before getting up to leave you alone to think about it.

***  
Later, when you knew Yondu would be in his quarters alone, you went to speak with him as well as give him a peace offering. 

Approaching his door you drew a deep breath and knocked.

You could hear from the other side of the door. “ _Dammit Krag! I told ya not to disturb me unless someone was dyin’ or the ship-_ ” the door opened and Yondu silenced himself, clearly surprised to see that it was you standing there. “What d’ya want?” he said, turning around and retreating back into his quarters. You took it as a good sign that he hadn’t shut the door in your face.

“I just wanted to talk.” you said somewhat shyly as you entered the room and shut the door behind you, mindful not to shut his jacket in the door as it hung on a hook near it.

“Bout what?” there was the usual gruffness in his voice as he removed his vest and threw it on the back of a chair before sitting down on a couch and motioned you to do the same.

“Well, I-I guess it’s more like an apology…” you start.

“Didn’t think ya knew that word,” he scoffed jokingly and you gave him a look of contempt. Realizing you almost forgot about the peace offering you brought along, you reached into your pocket and pulled out a tiny figure that looked similar to an Earth elephant, only it had green fur and had 4 smaller tusks instead of the bald, grey elephants with two giant tusks you had seen in books as a child. You handed it over.

Accepting the figurine Yondu snorts a laugh. “Ya brought me a gift, ya must really feel bad about it.” he teased, placing the object on a table near the couch next to his work suspenders and holstered arrow.

“Just listen.” You glare at him as you see a grin start to tug at the corners of his mouth, knowing he didn’t intend to make this easy for you as he mock straightened-up to listen. “I-I just wanted to say I’m sorry-”

“Ah! Ya learned two new words! Good for ya, girly!”

You glared at him again. He really could be a dick at times. You drew in another breath and started once more. “I just wanted to say sorry for what I said a while back. I-I’m sorry I said to stop trying to be my dad. I’m sorry I yelled at you for being protective of me. It… it’s just that… m-my dad is gone…dead, and I-I just… I just miss…” your voice was cracking with fought back tears as you tried to get yourself back under control, letting your gaze fall to your lap as you did so.

The smirk on Yondu’s face faded and he moved closer to you, pulling you close to him and letting your head rest on his shoulder. “I know, little girl, I know.”  
Hearing you stiff he momentarily tightened his arm around you to give you a gentle squeeze. “C’mon now, there’s no need for that, sweetheart. It’s alright. I know ya didn’t mean it. Ya can cheer up now.”

Just then you felt his arm move down and his fingertips start to wiggle into your ribs. You jolted at the sensation as giggles began to escape your mouth. “Hey! He-Hey!” you squeak in protest as you squirm in his tickly grasp and press your arms to your sides. 

Yondu grinned at your reaction. He thought this might be his favorite way to tease you and Peter. Not only did it always earn a laugh from you two when he used it, but it seemed to work on you Terrans the best, and he couldn’t deny that it was adorable. 

As quickly as he began, he stopped. “Hm, ya know, maybe I shouldn’t play this game with ya anymore?” he teased, “Since I’m not your-”

You cut him off. “It’s fine. This is, um… kinda our thing.” you laugh. “Besides, other than Peter, you’re the only one I’d ever allow to get away with it without getting stabbed.”

Yondu chuckled and ruffled your hair. “I always knew ya were my little girl.”

You looked at him with teary eyes and hugged him tightly, burying your face in his chest before you had the chance to cry. “You know,” you began, fighting a crack in your voice. “I don’t think I’d mind it if you still wanted to, you know, be my father figure… just maybe without treating me like a kid all the time in front of the crew…” 

Yondu sighed with a smile. “O’course, little girl. That is, if yer sure, I mean.” 

Without lifting your face from his chest you nodded your head, still choking back a sob and tightening your hug. He returned your embrace and rubbed his hand up and down your back in a comforting gesture, understanding without it needing to be said how much you desired the love of a parent, even if it was a surrogate.

After you had composed yourself, you sat back up, looking at the Centaurian with a mischievous smirk, which caused him to raise an eyebrow.

“You know…” you grinned, cracking your knuckles, “Where I’m from, if you start a tickle attack, ya better expect payback. Even fathers.”

Yondu starts chuckling. “That inn’t gonna work on me, pipsqueak.”

“Bet it does. Everyone is ticklish somewhere.” you laugh. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to try this.”

“Don’t even try it, young lady, or yer grounded.”

“Hah! Try me! If that’s the best threat you got then I say it’s a small price to pay for getting you back.” you say, grinning as he tried to look cross. 

Without further warning you lunged at the blue man, causing him to recoil. “Come here, ya old man!” you laugh, grabbing hold of his arm and pulling him closer and maneuvering yourself so your weight was on top of him. You quickly tried scribbling your fingers over his sides and belly through his grey turtleneck shirt. Unfortunately you didn’t get the reaction you desired.

“Old man?” he playfully scolded, grabbing your wrists and turning the tables quickly. Before you knew it you were laying on your back on the couch staring up at the smirking face of your captain. “Did ya really think it’d be that easy to overpower me, little girl?” he laughed at you as he spidered his fingers up and down your ribs, making you squeak with laughter.

“No fair!” you whine through giggles as you bat at his hands. You reached up in search of a weak spot, trying for his ribs; without much success. 

“Give up yet?” the blue man teased, moving his fingers over your belly and grinning at your laughter.

“Never!” you cry out, moving your hand higher and pulling down the loose collar of his turtleneck to flutter your fingertips over his throat, finally earning a barked out laugh from the Centaurian as he jerked back from your touch. “Aha! I knew it!” you happily cheer as you quickly attempted to sit up and gain some leverage.

“Now listen here, ya little-” He was attempting to scold you, but was cut off when you thrust your hands under his arms, immediately causing him to clamp his arms down to his sides and laughter to escape his throat. “Quit it!” the Ravager laughed. “Ya are so grounded!” He was attempting to grab at your arms and leaning back to try and escape your tickles, but only succeeded in making it easier for you to climb on top of him and continue your attack.

“Do you admit defeat, oh mighty Ravager Captain?” you teased as you moved one hand up to tickle at his neck once more, causing the man to scrunch up his shoulders at the sensation.

“Ya lil’ shit! Why I outta-!”

“Proclaim me the winner and I’ll stooop…” you said in a sing-song voice as you delighted in your onslaught of your captain. “Oh! And take back the grounding too.” you added, laughing as he tried to glare at you but failed due to his own laughter. “Do we have a deal?”

“Fine!” Yondu barked out. Knowing you shouldn’t push it you relented, dis-mounting him and re-taking a seat on the couch with a grin.

Yondu sat up and gave you a playful glare before pulling you into a side armed hug and ruffling your hair. “Yer a lil’ shit, ya know that?” 

“Must have learned it from you then.” you giggled back.

He responded back with, “Well maybe I should’ve taught ya common sense instead.” 

You knew what he was referring to. The event that started all this in the first place. You lowered your gaze again. “Look, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have done it, I just wanted to prove I could do it so I could make you proud.”

He lifted you by the chin so you were looking him in the eyes. “Now ya listen here. I am proud of ya. I’m damn proud yer my lil’ girl! But what ya did… that was just about the dumbest thing ya could’ve done. Ya scared me to death!”

“Really?” You sat back a bit, a little stunned to hear it.

“Yes really! Ya almost died! What if I had been even just a minute later getting to ya?” 

“I’m sorry.” You never really knew he cared that much. You lowered your face again only to have him lift it back up to meet his gaze.

“I know, just promise ya won’t ever pull a stupid stunt like that again, ya hear me?”

“Yes, sir. I promise.”

“Good girl.” he patted you on the back before leaning back on the couch himself. “’Cause ya try that again and I’ll make sure ya don’t leave the ship for a year.” 

“Well, good thing I just found a way to get out of a punishment, then, isn’t it?” you giggled lightly, referring to how you had just gotten Yondu to admit defeat earlier.

Yondu shot you a look. “Firstly, little girl, I  _let_  ya win. Secondly, yer deal might have gotten ya out of a groundin’, but it don’t mean ya won’t get nothin’ in return for sassin’ yer captain. Trust me, I got other ways to deal with ya.” 

You noticed how his eyes quickly grew mischievous and it was then you realized that perhaps you should have ducked out while you were ahead. You didn’t even have time to jump up, much less have a chance to properly get away before he pushed you onto your back on the couch and wasted no time or mercy launching his attack and throwing you into the most hysterical giggle fit of your life.

But honestly, you didn’t mind too much when it was all over. You and Yondu had made up and both now realized how you both cared for one another.

You may not have been his daughter, but you were still his little girl.   
He may not have been your father, but he was still your dad.  
And that’s all that mattered.


End file.
